An appeal for financial support for a young Maasai badly injured on Oldoinyo Lengai in August 2007

Today a young Maasai warrior is sitting at his family’s home in the Rift Valley of northern Tanzania, unable to walk. He has deep burns on both legs from toe to thigh, and his right hand is also severely burned. The young man (his name is Pambao or Kambau) incurred these terrible injuries in late August 2007 when he fell into an active lava flow in the summit crater of Oldoinyo Lengai volcano. Due to its unique chemical composition, the lava of Oldoinyo Lengai is relatively ‘cool’ (around 500 degrees Celsius), or Pambao would not be alive today. Following the accident, he was evacuated from the crater, carried in an improvised stretcher down a steep, rugged almost six thousand foot slope, and then taken by road to the Mount Meru hospital in Arusha. He remained in hospital for some time, with financial support from Volcano Expeditions International, the tour company that had hired him as porter for the climb which went so disastrously wrong.

However it seems that the funding to give him medical treatment and rehabilitation has dried up, and Pambao has been brought home to an isolated settlement north of Oldoinyo Lengai. On a visit to the area in January 2008 University of Rochester geologist Cindy Ebinger, who has been involved in a joint project with Tanzanian scientists monitoring the volcano’s ongoing activity, was able to visit Pambao and had this to report:
“Pambao has been sent back from the hospital in Arusha, ostensibly because there was little more that could be done without a major investment.  He was being cared for by his elderly grandparents in a small boma north of Engare Sero.  He was bedridden, and clearly in pain.  The lack of physical therapy has led to muscle wasting in his upper torso.   The only treatment for persistent sores was local herbal remedies”.  

This young man has paid a heavy price for the interest of scientists and tourists in visiting this unique volcano. Were it not for this ongoing interest, which has intensified over recent months as earthquakes have shaken the area and the volcano has shown signs of returning to a more intensive level of activity than has been the case for the last 20 years, Pambao would not have been in the summit crater. The area around Oldoinyo Lengai is an isolated part of a third world country in which employment and income generating opportunities are extremely limited. Acting as guides and porters for visitors to Oldoinyo Lengai is one of the few sources of income available to young men like Pambao, who have at most a few years of elementary school education. These strong young men have no concept of the risks associated with active volcanoes, and have come to believe that it must be safe, since so many people come to climb it.

As responsible scholars, we should be concerned not only with our scientific activities and the data we collect, but also with the well-being of the local communities around our research sites. Even though we were not part of the expedition on which Pambao was injured, we believe that our responsibility to him and his community requires that we take an active part in helping him to rebuild his life, as best he can. To this end we are seeking funds to support a number of activities. We are in touch with organizations in Tanzania that fly medical personnel regularly to Ngare Sero, and we are confident that we will be able to have Pambao’s condition evaluated and probably also arrange for treatment in a well equipped hospital in northern Tanzania. In the long run, we hope that he can be given rehabilitation and eventually vocational training that will enable him to support himself. All of this is going to need money, even with the aid of non-profit making organizations in Tanzania, and we are appealing for your donations. We can take checks in either US dollars or British pounds, made payable to either of us: Celia Nyamweru or Cindy Ebinger. We will acknowledge every donation and at regular intervals will report on how the funds are being used.

Checks can be mailed to:
Celia Nyamweru, Department of Anthropology, St. Lawrence University, Canton, NY 13617, USA.
Cindy Ebinger, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627, USA.

Thankyou so much for your support!

Celia                                                                   Cindy
celianyamweru@yahoo.com                               ebinger@earth.rochester.edu